OBY, We would wish that God give you beauty in your next incarnation, but God did endow you with abundance of  beauty--inner and outer beauty. So please come back the way you were. But please come back bringing longevity, not just for you to stay in the world longer, but for those you would leave behind in your next life to have had a longer time with you. The hurt of the departure of someone like you is so deep that it creates a deep gorge in your friends' and family's heart. As with all things that happen to us human, we leave it to God. You even knew and acknowledged this, hence, you named one of your beautiful, intelligent, brilliant daughters Ralu. You will ever be remembered for your goodness, grace, fellow feeling, generosity, integrity, accountability, ethics, and morals. Remain in God's Bosom, the great one.

Christiana Okechukwu, your ever morning protege.

It was the 9th day of December, 2017, two days to my birthday. My phone rang very early in the morning and I picked it up. It was not the prayer line but Oby, Jr. She called to tell me that her mom had gone home to be with the Lord fifteen minutes earlier and before I had time to scream, cry or offer consolation, she said something that comforted and silenced me. I lay on my bed numb. Was this a defeat or victory? Did I just lose a battle or did I win? Did the Nigerian Victory Intercessory Fellowship, the church, her children and other praying saints miss God somehow? I have just been hit below the belt.I did not recover for some days. I just lost a friend, an international icon, a prayer warrior, a good samaritan, a lioness, yet a lamb. A saint has been called home, but why at this time? Uzo's wife is pregnant. What do I tell Sister Oby's wonderful children, amazing daughter-in-law, committed and selfless sons-in-law, admirable grandchildren. As my numbness wears away and pain sets in I cried out to God for comfort. He reminded me this scripture. 1 Cor. 13: 9-12

9 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.

10 But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.

11 When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.

12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.

Our all-knowing God allowed what is best for Oby. It is not the length of years we spend on earth that matters to God but our accomplishments for the kingdom of God. 
Isaiah 58 
10 If you extend your soul to the hungry
And satisfy the afflicted soul,
Then your light shall dawn in the darkness,
And your darkness shall be as the noonday.
11 The Lord will guide you continually,
And satisfy your soul in drought,
And strengthen your bones;
You shall be like a watered garden,
And like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.
Sister Oby, verse 12 is for your children. 
12 Those from among you
Shall build the old waste places;
You shall raise up the foundations of many generations;
And you shall be called the Repairer of the Breach,
The Restorer of Streets to Dwell In.

Those who loved you will sherish your godliness until we meet again in our eternal home nevermore to part.

Adieu woman of God

Ugo Apugo
for the Nmereole Apugos and the Nigerian Victory Intercessory Fellowship.

My life with this amazing, awesome, generous, kind, accommodating woman Aunty Oby started over 35 years ago when i was just in my early teens in secondary school. I knew i had a senior cousin named Oby but our paths never crossed as she had left home at the time i was growing up so her name was just somewhere in my heart until that day in Queens School Enugu. It was our visiting sunday and the only person who ever visits me regularly in school (my mum) had come and left so i joined up with my friends to receive their own parents and partake in the endless flow of rice and chicken. Until i saw some senior girls excitedly looking for me "Nkoli, you have a visitor at the gate....Ima is looking for you"!!! Me? Surely they had mixed up names, not me, and i knew nobody called 'Ima" so i passed and politely told them the visitor isnt mine and besides my mum had come and left. Being seniors, they ordered me to proceed to the gate immediately while they all followed after me. I had no choice and as i approached the gate, i saw my first cousin Oby and a dark handsome man with the most beautiful warm smile i ever saw. I was a very shy little girl in those years and was lost for words, Oby introduced me to Victor and said to me 'Nnechi, i came to introduce my fiancé  (she just got engaged that year) to you, his name is Victor", she turned to him "Victor, this is my little sister, Nkoli". They gave me N20 and left, i stood there transfixed to the spot. N20???? That was my entire pocket money for a full term!!! Just like that? As i turned to go i saw that many seniors had gathered and were watching me with respect in their eyes. "So you are Ima's sister, eh? O my!  we love Ima" they chanted. Ima??? I did not understand, my cousins name is Oby. It was later that I learnt Oby used to be an actress and had starred in a popular stage drama "I must marry Ima" She had starred in the drama which went round most secondary schools in Enugu. That was how i became popular in school, 'Ima's" sister they called me and wanted to know everything about her.

After this, Oby and her husband 'adopted' me and took me into their home, she would pick me up for vacations and bring me back to school at resumption. Most of my high school friends knew her so well that each time we met even decades after high school, the first question will be 'How is aunty Oby?', most of them did not know she is not my sister. Her home was open to all and they were free to visit me and sometimes stay the night, the kitchen was open to all (and you know what that means to hungry teenagers in boarding school!).

That was the start of the very close relationship i had with aunty Oby and her husband (a wonderful kind and perfect gentleman). When i graduated and moved to Lagos, the relationship even got stronger, uncle Victor will always stop over to see me on his numerous international trips out of lagos and my visits to the east to see my late mum always included a stop over at aunty Oby's house.

It is difficult to believe she is gone, however i thank God for the gift of her friendship, the wisdom and knowledge she imparted. She had a very high EQ and would always say to me "Nnechi, weli uche" meaning 'use wisdom'. She was calm and very gentle with an almost fragile demeanor but the greatest mistake anybody can make is to take her for granted. She was highly cerebral, well travelled with strong people skills, it was rare to see her lose her temper visibly.

Aunty Oby, thank you for your love and friendship, thank you for being a rallying point for the entire family.

As you start your journey to eternity, i am sure you are with the saints triumphant smiling sweetly and wondering why we grieve over your loss. You are in a better place! This is my comfort.

May God keep you until we meet again at the feet of Jesus.

I will always love and cherish you.

What more can i say except that i bow respectfully to the wish of God almighty and will never question His right to call his children home at will, i can only say 'Thank you Jesus' for the time she got to see her children and Childrens children.

Ijeoma Ada Eze Uzu!